Today we’d like to introduce you to Zack Huggins.
Zack, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I don’t remember when I got my first camera, but it was a little Kodak 110 cartridge point and shoot. I’m told I would go through a roll of film in half an hour, snapping away at anything. But photography wasn’t really a big part of my life until college.
My dad had an extensive video library. We lived in the country in East Texas, and we had one of those enormous satellite dishes (it’s still there to this day). He would record movies to tape, and he had this Dewey Decimal type system, very organized and methodical. At its height, he had over 5,000 movies in this library. So I had access to all kinds of movies. I watched everything from Laurel & Hardy to Terminator. I grew up a film nerd, eventually making videos of my own in high school. I went to UNT for film, and my senior year, my family pooled their money to get me my first digital camera. I brought it on set in my film production classes, took some behind the scenes photos, and that’s when photography really clicked for me. I’ve been carrying a camera ever since.
Has it been a smooth road?
I really started getting serious about photography after my film classes. But I never had any photography background before that, so all the technical knowledge I had was from film school. There was some overlap, but there was so much I didn’t know. I learned composition from watching movies. Everything else was trial and error. A lot of trial and error. It was really when I began to carry a camera with me daily that I began to figure out the technicals, and things started to become second nature. When exposure and focus became, second nature is when I could develop my eye. There have been other setbacks, like when most of my gear was stolen and I had to start over with the bare minimum. But it taught me to work with limitations and to make images with what I have on hand.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The best part of Dallas is the people I’ve met since I’ve lived here, the friendships I’ve formed. When I first moved here, I felt pretty isolated, but as soon as I met some kindred spirits, they introduced me to others and Dallas quickly became home. I just wish the city was a little more walkable.
What were you like growing up?
I’ve seen the footage, and the answer is: “talkative.” My mom loves to tell this story. Once when we were at the grocery store, I kept trying to have a conversation with the man in front of us in line, but he was trying his best to ignore me. I asked him loudly, “Hey, why won’t you talk to me? What’s wrong with you?” I was five. I wonder where that confidence went. I’d like to thank all the adults that patiently listened to the little weirdo with the heavy drawl talk about LEGOs for uncomfortable amounts of time. I hope you all learned something.
If you had to start over, what would you have done differently?
Sometimes I wish I hadn’t gone to film school since my original intention of working in film production hasn’t gone according to plan. But if I hadn’t, I might not have found my love of photography in the same way. And who knows what my path would look like. So long as I’m happy with what I’m doing, it’s hard to regret the choices that got me here.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/mrhuggins
- Other: www.flickr.com/zackhuggins
Image Credit:
Personal photo by Collin Meyer
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